MIDDLETON — This year, residents must vote on who will fill a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen and two open positions on the Middleton School Board as well. All three positions have three-year terms.

Janet Kalar, a current school board member, is running for both selectman and re-election to the school board. She is running against newcomer Joseph Bailey for the selectman position.

“We need people on the board who can pretty much put in their time…,” Kalar said. “You need to be available and you need to be doing things for the town. I sit in on these selectmen meetings (and) it’s more than just signing paychecks or checks to pay bills on. You need to put the time in.”

Bailey said he has never run for the Board of Selectmen though he currently serves as Recreation Committee chairman.

“You have to care and you have to give back,” he told Foster’s. “You just can’t be one of these people who takes and complains. You have to be able to step up if you have something to offer and I think I have something I can offer.”

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Janet Kalar

Bailey said he has lived in town for 10 years and hopes he could lend his past managerial experiencing to working on fiscal matters for the community.

“Obviously, our tax rate is going up and I’ve attended the school deliberative budget sessions and I’ve gone to the town …,” he said, referencing a recent 26 percent hike in taxes. “I know there’s stuff on the budget that I know I could save some money for the town. I do things just a little bit differently and that’s where I want to come into play.”

In the school board election, where there are two spots available, Kalar is seeking re-election, along with current Chairman Andrea Bowden. Todd LaPierre, the outgoing chairman of the Board of Selectmen, is running for a spot on the school board as well.

Kalar said she is seeking re-election to assist with a feasibility study proposed on the Town Meeting warrant, to consider other options for Middleton if they were to withdraw from their current tuition agreement with Farmington.

“I’m not running to get the kids out of Farmington and to put them into Wolfeboro…,” she said, noting the board has considered approaching the Kingswood Regional school district along with others. “I’m running because I am tired of our kids not getting the education that they deserve … Our kids deserve much better and we should be providing them the best we possibly can provide.”

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Joseph Bailey

Bowden and LaPierre did not return several calls for comment.

In other local races, Sandra Bruedle is running unopposed for one three-year seat on the Budget Committee, Samantha McPherson is running unopposed for one three-year term as a trustee of the local trust fund and Kathleen Landry is running unopposed for the position of “supervisor of the checklist,” which has a six-year term.

No one is running for three seats available on the Cemetery Board of Trustees — one is a one-year term, another is a two-year term and the third is for a three-year term. The race may be decided by write-in votes.

This year, residents will also vote on whether Middleton should adopt the provision of “SB2” as defined by RSA 40:13, to allow for official ballot voting in Middleton on the second Tuesday of March. This petition warrant must pass by a three-fifths majority.

Voting will be on March 12 at Old Town Hall from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Town Meeting will be on Saturday, March 16.